Brothers in all but blood
by peevesisawesome
Summary: "Best friends comfort you when you cry. Brothers cry with you." James and Sirius are brothers in all but blood. Join them during two moments of their lives where they cry together.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I know I still haven't finished Dark Shadows Rising, but I just had to write this plot bunny **** it's only going to be two chapters and an epilogue, though, so it won't affect my updating of the other story that much**

Chapter 1

It was a beautiful warm summer night, but the dark-haired boy running along the pavement could not appreciate any of it. He was holding a broomstick, which he had just disembarked from, and was dragging a heavy trunk behind him. If anyone on the street had chanced to look out of the window just at that moment, they would have been shocked to see that not only was he shoeless, he was also sporting a black eye and had one hand clutching his side, with a dark patch growing beneath it. However, at this time of night everyone was sleeping soundly, including the family who lived at the house the boy stopped at.

He took a deep breath before ringing the doorbell. There was silence for a moment, and the boy wondered whether anyone was at home. Then a light went on in a room upstairs, and a few moments later he heard footsteps approaching the door. The door opened to reveal a man looking out, bleary-eyed, and a woman behind him tying the cords of a dressing-gown around her waist.

"Sirius?" the man asked disbelievingly, as he took in the sight in front of him.

"I'm sorry, Mr Potter, I just ran away from home and I don't know where else to go, I understand if you don't want me—"

"Sirius, dear, don't be silly," said Mrs Potter, "come inside, you must be freezing! Of course, we'd be more than happy for you to stay with us."

Sirius' expression turned into one of cautious relief, as he was ushered by Mrs Potter into a chair by the fire in the sitting room. She immediately started tending to his wounds, whilst Mr Potter took Sirius' trunk and broomstick upstairs to James' room, taking the opportunity to wake his son (who had slept through the noise) and tell him about the new arrival.

James immediately went downstairs to see his friend, and watched quietly as his mother put ointment on Sirius' bruises and healed the gash in his side. She then cleaned out a cut on his foot, whilst exclaiming "I don't know what possessed you to leave the house without shoes on, Sirius". Sirius just chuckled weakly in response.

In truth, Mrs Potter was horrified at Sirius' appearance. In addition to the black eye and the gash in the side, there had been a collection of other bruises that were not as recent. She did not know how exactly he had managed to obtain the injuries, but she had an idea and it was not pleasant. She wanted to go to the Black household right now and give them a piece of her mind, but knew that it would not be a wise move. So instead she did what she could to make Sirius comfortable, and then left him alone with James.

As soon as Mrs Potter left, James helped Sirius up and supported him as he limped up the stairs to James' room. Once he had closed the door, he asked the question on his mind ever since he had entered the sitting room and seen Sirius.

"What happened?"

Sirius grimaced painfully as he sat down on the camp bed set up for him. "I ran away, James. I've had enough of them and their pureblood supremacy crap, and I can't take it anymore. I finally cracked."

"Yes, but what _happened_? Why did you turn up at god knows what hour with a black eye and blood everywhere with no cloak and no shoes on?" James sat cross-legged on his own bed, facing Sirius.

Sirius sighed. "We were having dinner, and Mother was going on and on about how purebloods shouldn't try to procreate with muggle-borns, how it was a disgrace that the Ministry allowed that kind of thing, and I just snapped. I told her that I lost my virginity to a muggle-born and it was the best sex I've had so far. Father stood up so fast he almost turned the table. Then he punched me in the face. My _own father_ hit me!"

There was a pause, as James sat there, shocked, and Sirius tried to get his anger back under control. Just reliving the memory made him feel like hitting something and watch it shatter into pieces.

"Anyway," Sirius continued, "I stormed out of the dining room into my bedroom, grabbed some stuff and shoved it into my trunk, grabbed my broomstick and then blasted the window out. Of course, the noise made Mother come running up the stairs, and she burst into the room just as I was perched on the windowsill, about to fly out. I said some things which I don't care to repeat now, and then she sent a cutting curse at me, just as I jumped. That's what the blood was from."

"Wait a moment," said James, looking even more shocked. "Your father hit you and then your mother _cursed_ you?"

"Not everyone has perfect families like you, James. Do you know what my mother shouted after me as I was flying away? She said—"

Sirius paused, took a shaky breath and then continued in a rush. "She said that I was an insolent brat and that she wished I had never been born." His voice broke on the last word, and all the emotion he had bottled up on the journey here, and whilst Mrs Potter had been so kind to him and acted like a real mother should, was let out. Sirius started to cry for the first time in years.

"Sirius…" whispered James—he didn't know what else to say. To see his friend, his brother, in such pain was heartbreaking, and as he moved to sit next to Sirius and hugged him, his own tears mingled with his brother's.

A while later, as both boys were almost falling asleep, James said sleepily, "So you had time to pack your trunk but you didn't think to put on some shoes?"

Sirius just snored in response.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The four Marauders were sitting in the best armchairs by the fire in the Gryffindor common room. It was a Sunday afternoon, so the common room was filled with people laughing and talking. Suddenly, the babble of noise ceased and all heads turned to see Professor McGonagall climb through the portrait hole. She walked past the staring students until she came to where the Marauders were sitting.

"Mr Potter, if I could have a word outside, please," said the professor, in rather a softer tone than usual. James, confused, got up and followed. As soon as the portrait hole swung shut, the noise started picking up again, most people assuming that James was getting told off for yet another prank. The Marauders, however, knew that they had not pulled any pranks recently, so were wondering what could be the matter.

After a few minutes, the portrait hole opened once again, and the common room fell quiet for the second time that evening as James, pale-faced, made a beeline for the stairs leading up to the boys' dormitory, ignoring the calls of his friends. Soon there was the muffled sound of a door slamming. Sirius jumped up immediately to follow him, and Peter also got up, but was stopped by Remus.

"Peter, stay here. Let Sirius go and find out what's wrong. James won't want us crowding him."

So Sirius made his way upstairs by himself, full of concern and filled with some trepidation. He had never seen James looking so upset about anything. He reached the door to their dormitory and knocked. There was no answer.

"James?" he asked. "It's me, Sirius." Still there was no answer.

Sirius slowly opened the door and walked into the room. The curtains around James' bed were drawn, and muffled sobs could be heard coming from inside. He was momentarily shocked because James never cried, but he went over and pulled back one of the hangings to reveal James with his face buried in his pillow, soaking it with tears. Sirius put a hand on his shoulder in support, before asking the dreaded question.

"What happened, James?"

At first there was no response, and Sirius was starting to think that perhaps he should leave James alone, when with great difficulty and immense willpower, James brought his head out of the pillow and turned around to face Sirius. His eyes were already puffy from crying and yet the tears continued to stream down his face as he explained what Professor McGonagall had told him outside the portrait hole.

"They're d-dead, Sirius. My p-parents are d-dead because of s-some bastard Death Eaters who think it's f-funny to k-kill innocent people…"

The news hit Sirius like a freight train. He had been eternally grateful to Mr and Mrs Potter for taking him in when he had nowhere else to go, and treating him like another son. In time, he learnt from them how parents should really behave, and started to think of them as his own parents. To learn that they had been murdered was almost as devastating for him as it was for James, and soon he too was crying in earnest, which did nothing to relieve the agony he was feeling inside.

The two brothers sat on the bed for a long time, not talking (for what could they say that could convey their pain?) but being comforted nonetheless by each other's presence. Eventually they ran out of tears and started noticing their hunger, having missed dinner.

"Time for a trip to the kitchens?" asked Sirius hoarsely. James nodded in reply and the two went downstairs.

The entire common room turned to stare at them as they emerged, but they held their heads high and found their friends, who pretended not to notice their red-rimmed eyes and tearstained cheeks, and agreed to accompany them on their quest for food.


	3. Epilogue

Epilogue

With their graduation from Hogwarts still fresh in their minds, the Marauders were gathered together in James' room to play a game of Truth or Dare, perhaps for the last time in a while, as they embarked on their separate paths after school. The threat of war hanging over them had led to a change in atmosphere, where the formerly carefree friends were now more mature and less hot-headed. However, this didn't mean that they couldn't still enjoy themselves once in a while.

It was now Remus' turn to ask Sirius a question. Surprisingly for Sirius, he had chosen Truth instead of a Dare.

"Um…how about this, Sirius—when have you cried in the past two years?" asked Remus.

"Let me see…there was that time when I arrived on James' doorstep in the middle of the night after I ran away, and then there was the day when James found out about his parents…Yeah, I think that's it."

Later, it was Remus' turn to ask James a question. James also chose Truth.

"OK…can I just ask you the same question I asked Sirius? When have you cried in the past two years?"

"I think my answer will be the same as well, Remus. I only cried when Sirius came to my house and when I found out about my parents."

"Seriously?" asked Peter. "You and Sirius only cried at the same times these past two years?"

"Yeah, well, best friends comfort you when you cry. Brothers cry with you," replied James, "and you know that Sirius is my brother."

There was a pause for a moment, as the Marauders reflected on the truth of that statement. Then Remus joked, "Hey, James, I never knew you were so deep!" and the moment passed.

Years later, when Remus and Sirius were spending a lonely night in Grimmauld Place together, they reminisced about this moment, where they were so happy and still trusted in one another. The statement still rang true, and Remus wondered how he could have ever have suspected that Sirius was the traitor.

**A/N: Okay, I'm not particularly happy with this ending; I think that the story actually got worse as it progressed…anyway, I don't think I can actually make it much better, so I'm just going to leave it like this. Please don't be too harsh, but please review and tell me if my thoughts are correct!**


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